any ideas...anyone?

[Linzoid]

My friend has just moved house and i wanted to get her a house warming present, something inexpensive (skint at the moment) has anyone got any ideas for me?

A bunch of flowers or a plant? They're my usual standby for these sort of situations.

Wine? Candles?

I bought a brass kitchen timer for £13 in Farnworths yesterday as a present for a friend, which not only looks good but is also very practical. (The had cheaper ones but not as nice.) We've got one hanging in our kitchen and use it not just for cooking, but also a as reminder; i.e. somebody asks you to phone back in 30 minutes, as the person you want to speak to is back from lunch then...

TK Maxx (sorry, my fave store!!) have some really unusual photo frames for about £5, also lovely candles/holders and loads of wicker baskets in all sizes.

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Agree with rosehip, TKMaxx is great for housey things. (I have a nice-but-silly wooden cat with Hell's Angel type studs all round its very-long-neck from there!) They have kitchen things, ornamenty things, drapey things, baskets, bedding, towels, cushions, all sorts and pretty good prices too.

Otherwise some kind of (inexpensive) local picture would be nice?

If you want to get a plant, why not make it some potted herb? Very cheap from supermarkets and very practical.

if the place is a reck (or just not their style) paint brushes/rollers & tray - that sort of stuff is very fun/useful (especially if it's their 1st palce and they're not likely to have these things) and can be quite inexpensive - we got a load of stuff like that for a friend - put it in a big bucket - tied it with a ribbon and it went down very well.

But what if Linzoid turns up with the paint brushes and thinks -yeah I definately bought you the right thing - and friend says "we are so lucky we have nothing to do decorating wise in this house?"

Crikey. That would make an interesting thread.

Good point. Linzoid would have to ring and steer the conversation to the decor first just in case. But in that case that would be a great idea.

Plants are definitley a can't-go-wrong purchase. Don't know what part of the world you are in, but if you're in the UK then Marks & Spencers do gorgeous potted Peace Lilies for about a tenner. My best friend bought me one and I LOVE it!

I bought a friend a wall plaque for outside the house. It had a little story attached about it being a friendly face at the door and designed to give good luck. It was really funny, with a type of sweet gargole face, and everytime I went there it made me smile when I knocked ontheir door! It was less than a tenner, but I don't know where from.

photo of friend in a picture frame?

When we moved my friend gave us a beautiful ceramic bowl filled with lots of exotic fresh fruit, which I thought was a lovely gift.

What about a terracotta pot planted up with flowering bulbs or herbs, or whatever is in season (you can tell I'm not a gardener!!) - that's the sort of present I always appreciate, a sort of instant garden!! (assuming she has a garden, or somewhere to put a pot?). You can get a fairly big pot for about a fiver at most garden centres.

how about a caricature of your friend to be framed or a drawing of her new/old house,i can do it for you!